Car Accident Victim Barred from Suing for Personal Injury Claims
A woman suing for an injury sustained in a car accident was recently barred from bringing her personal injury claims in North Carolina. The court initially found insufficiency of process and insufficiency of service of process, but the main reason the court barred the car accident injury claim was because the woman, after attempting to serve process, voluntarily dismissed the action.
Several years later she attempted to re-file the claim, alleging the same negligence action. The court found regardless of process and service of process inadequacies, the statute of limitations had run on the claim, barring the woman’s lawsuit. The woman still appealed her car accident claim, arguing she was the victim of negligence and she had attempted to properly serve process a couple times. She further argued the law should allow her time to perfect her appeal and service of process. (the law does afford plaintiffs time to perfect an appeal in certain situations, however as explained below this is not one)
Each jurisdiction has laws describing the specific elements needed to serve process. Generally, service of process is the means of giving legal notice to a person that a court can exercise jurisdiction over that person in legal proceedings. Service of process involves a summons and other court documents to be served upon the defendant personally. In some circumstances, service of process can be served at the defendant’s home or place of employment and given to a third party, provided that the person is over a certain age and with sound mental capacity.
In this case, the car accident allegedly occurred because the defendant struck the woman’s automobile from behind. The automobile accident occurred in February of 2002. In February of 2005, the woman filed a negligence action against the defendant for personal injuries sustained. In March 2005, a copy of the returned receipt from the service was sent and the envelope was stamped “attempted not known;” process was returned unserved. In April of 2005 the woman again attempted to serve process, but on the same day, she also filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss the action. (The woman then attempted to re-file this claim in 2007, as described here and decided in 2008.)
After the court took into account the attempts of serving process and the voluntary dismissal, this court affirmed the lower court’s decision in finding that the woman’s claims were barred. This is because the statute of limitations for the personal injury claim had run. Additionally, if the action is commenced but the plaintiff voluntarily dismisses the claim, the same claim can sometimes be commenced again within a certain time period. Furthermore, the plaintiff has to have served the defendant properly in order to be allotted the additional year after dismissing a claim.
In this case, the court held that because the woman dismissed the action the same day that she attempted to serve process, that process was never properly served and her ability to re-file was lost. The court found the woman had waited too long to commence action and therefore lost her opportunity to sue.
Timely action in personal injury law is crucial. If you wait too long to contact an injury lawyer, you might not be able to receive compensation for your injuries. Courts favor timeliness, and seeking immediate legal assistance after a car accident cannot be stressed enough.
As a founding partner of Page // Cagle, a St. Louis personal injury law firm, I have stood by injured clients through lengthy litigation and injury settlements to aggressively represent their needs. We represent people who are in truck accidents, car accidents, motorcycle accidents, and many other types of injury cases.
If you or a loved one is involved in a car accident, contact the collision attorneys at Page // Cagle for a free consultation to discuss your case and legal options. I am more than happy to answer any questions and concerns you may have about personal injury law.
I can be reached 24 hours a day at 314.322.8515 or toll free at 1.800.500.INJURY (4658). You can also email me at john@pagecagle.com or visit www.missouricaraccident.com for more information.
